Indicator	Value
Military expenditure (% GDP)	2.05 %SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Military expenditure	64,700,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Armed forces personnel	304,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI [2020]
Arms imports	188,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Arms exports	2,270,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Military & security forces	French Armed Forces (Forces Armées Françaises): Army (l'Armee de Terre; includes Foreign Legion), Navy (Marine Nationale), Air and Space Force (l'Armee de l’Air et de l’Espace); includes Air Defense), National Guard (Garde Nationale), National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale) (2025); note: note 1: under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior, the civilian National Police and the National Gendarmerie maintain internal security; the National Gendarmerie is a paramilitary police force that is a branch of the Armed Forces and therefore part of the Ministry of Defense but under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior; it also has additional duties to the Ministry of Justicenote 2: the National Guard is composed of operational reservists belonging to the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interiornote 3: the French Foreign Legion, established in 1831, is a military force that is open to foreign recruits willing to serve in the French military for service in France and abroad; the Foreign Legion is an integrated part of the French Army; its combat units are a mix of armored cavalry and airborne, light, mechanized, and motorized infantry regimentsCIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Military service age & obligation	generally 17-30 years of age for both men and women with some variations by service, position, and enlisted versus officer; 17-40 for National Gendarmerie; basic service contract is for 12 months; no conscription (abolished 2001) (2025); note: note 1: a 10-month voluntary military service program for French citizens 18-19 is scheduled to start accepting recruits in September 2026; afterwards, the volunteers can integrate into civilian life, become a reservist, or stay in the armed forcesnote 2: in 2024, women comprised about 17% of the uniformed armed forces note 3: men between the ages of 17.5 and 39.5 years of age, of any nationality, may join the French Foreign Legion; those volunteers selected for service sign five-year contractsCIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Arms imports (USD)	188,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Arms exports (USD)	2,270,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Military spending (% of GDP)	2.05 %SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Military spending (USD)	64,700,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]